How do you get to sleep?

[anothernewusername1]

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I am struggling with getting to sleep (am only just going to bed and am not usually on my phone this late!)

It's the process once you're head on pillow/eye mask on etc

I try thinking of animals/bands/cities starting with each letter of the alphabet and I also do breathing shapes (breathe in two sides of square and breathe out other two) but hoping for some more ideas!

I listen to a guided meditation and am usually asleep about ten minutes in

Some free examples https://www.yoganidranetwork.org/downloads-filtered?fieldthemetid_selective=123

@Starksforthewin your post made me a bit sad. I relocated from one part of the country to another and really grieved for my old home. For the first six months I did just what you describe, closed my eyes and slowly walked round my old house, one room at a time. It was a very helpful technique.

What's the breathing squares technique? I read the explanation but don't understand.

I run through calm (bordering on dull) everyday scenarios in my head as though I'm doing them. For example:

-Making a roast
-Hair/beauty routine for work (cabin crew, so it can take a while)
-A walk I take to my local reservoir
-Cleaning the bathroom
-Grooming the cat (he has very long hair!)

So tasks that are generally dull, but not dull to the point of frustration. By going through them in my mind in minute detail, I'll often manage to sleep. Sometimes I'll think of a peaceful place and imagine myself there, but I have to walk to that place in my mind. Once I get there I go to sleep there and I'll eventually drift in real life.

Otherwise, I'll try diphenhydramine (Nytol over the counter in the UK, and it's the drowsy component of Nyquil in the U.S.)

If I wake up during the night, I just remind myself that the world won't implode if I go through the next day knackered. That one took a while to work. I used to suffer badly with my sleep and it took a while to stop it. I still occasionally have a night where even a tranquiliser wouldn't do the trick, but they're few and far between now!

I'm trying to wean myself off going to sleep with the TV on.

Don't have the TV on in your bedroom.
Bed is for sleeping.
I go upstairs when I'm tired, get changed, get into bed, turn the light off, close my eyes and within 5 minutes I'm asleep.

I try and switch off from tech for at least 30 mins before I go to sleep, just helps my brain unwind and settle down. We don’t have a tv in the bedroom and leave my phone on the other side of the room. I find reading really helps me drift off, something about having to focus on the words - although it does mean the books on my bedside table take ages to get through as I fall asleep and can’t remember where I was with them!

I need to be on my back with one arm above my head. I also need thin pillows. I listen to a true crime podcast or video as I fall asleep. I usually go to bed an hour before I intend to sleep to watch some YouTube.

I use headphones so I don't disturb DH.

I used to fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, but perimenopause has certainly had an impact on that.

I play 30 minutes of thunderstorm sounds on my Google Home

Get into bed. Fall asleep.

I go upstairs with a hot drink, drink it sitting up in bed, go to the loo, brush my teeth and get into bed. Turn off the lamp, lie down and fall asleep. Sometimes asleep before I have turned out the light, sometimes I am asleep in seconds, sometimes a few minutes. Sometimes a spoon with DH helps. If I am awake any longer than a few minutes then sex helps me fall asleep I can be asleep before DP has made it back from the bathroom.
Occasionally when I can't get to sleep (due to caffeine usually or staying up past tired ) I go on my phone, make a drink or read and try again in half an hour.
I can sleep anytime from 9 if I actually go to bed.

DP often has music or comedy videos on his phone quietly, this makes no difference to me as I either fall asleep with them on, or off.

I imagine my feet getting warm and that heat slowly travelling up my body. A friend told me about this a few days ago and since doing it, I'm asleep before I get to my head. Weird but works for me.

This thing where you tense and relax each muscle from head to toe a couple of times. I don't struggle with sleeping so feel for you

myimaginarycat I’m sorry I brought some of that sadness back for you. I think with loved homes there is a grieving process to go through. Of course mainly connected with the people associated with the home, but also for me that feeling of safety and security I always felt there.

I hope you are happy now in your current home.

I have a meditation app called Insight Timer and I listen to Yoga Nidra. I cannot fall asleep in silence, I had terrible insomnia for years. This works for me and i find that I have trained myself into falling asleep almost as soon as it comes on

Melatonin, you can buy it via eBay. Best thing ever!

Magnesium salt bath
300mg of L-Theanine, 700mg of Gaba, and 100mg of 5-htp an hour before bed
Some lavender drops on my pillow.

I get between 6.5-8 hours of sleep if I follow this routine, and probably 4-6 if I don’t.

Don’t go to bed until you are really tired. 11:15 would be too early for me.

I listen to guided meditations- Jason Stephenson on YouTube. Works like a dream . Asleep in about five minutes and if I wake up during the night I put another one on!

Stars in Their eyes. I work through the outfit and song choice. Never once stepped through the doors.

A cool ( temp ) bedroom, very dark and a book.
Within a couple of pages I'm out like my bedside lamp.
I don't have electronics in the bedroom including TVs and phones etc.

I redesign my friends and families houses, they should let me at them for real! It’s a very pleasant way to drift off to sleep.

I switch off the light, lie on one side, and read on my Kindle Oasis. I quite often fall asleep with it still in one hand.

I often take diphenhydramine before I go to sleep - not to help me get to sleep, but to help me stay asleep through the night or fall back to sleep if I wake up.

I count out loud backwards from 10. DH tells me I never last past 6. I'm like a failed Ron Jeremy in the world of sleep 😀

Mine is really simple. Breathe in, count one, breathe out, count two. Repeat till you are asleep. If your mind wanders to active thinking, just start again.